Trade of the Century: Dodgers and Red Sox

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox on Saturday put the finishing touches on what is the biggest trade in the history of Major League Baseball. It is big because of the effect that it will have on these two teams and because of the contract dollars that will be switching hands. Here are the details:

Los Angeles Dodgers receive: Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto

Boston Red Sox receive: James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Jerry Sands and Rubby De La Rosa

Most people thought that there would be major changes coming for the Red Sox, but no one could have ever imagined this. Effectively, the Red Sox have traded their two blockbuster acquisitions from before the 2011 season in Gonzalez and Crawford, and they cut ties with their mercurial and struggling ace in Beckett.

Here are the three things that this trade communicates to the baseball world:

1. Boston traded for a reset button:

The Red Sox obviously wanted a way to restart and rebuild. No one could have ever imagined that another team would give them that ability.

2. Los Angeles’ new ownership is not messing around or waiting:

This trade is for right now and for years to come. The big-time players that the Dodgers got from Boston have long-term deals, and they have franchise defining talent. The NL West just got incredibly interesting.

3. This offseason will be insane:

Do not expect the Dodgers to be dormant this offseason because of this deal. I believe that the Red Sox and Dodgers will be active in trying to add some of the best talent available this winter (i.e., Josh Hamilton, Zack Greinke, Michael Bourn, Kyle Lohse, etc.).

Is this a good deal or a bad deal? Which team got the better of this trade? Tweet your thoughts to @MLBFanCave and @KyleOKC using the hash tag #MLBFC.